Book V. LABOURS WITH THE CROP. 



531 



3278. The proper size of the hay-stack should probably be different in some decree 

 according to the state and nature of the hay ; but a middling size is perhaps the best, say 

 from twenty to thirty loads of about one ton each, as there are inconveniences in both 

 small and large stacks, the former having too much outside, while the latter are liable to 

 take on too much heat, and at the same time permit less moisture to be preserved in the 

 hay. In small stacks the bellying forms with very narrow bottoms have often much ad- 

 vantage, and are in some districts termed sheep-stacks, probably from the slovenly prac- 

 tice of sheep having been permitted to feed at them. 



3279. In building every description of slack, the stem or body should be so formed as 

 to swell gradually outwards, quite up to the part termed the eaves ; as by this method it 

 is more perfectly secured against the entrance of moisture, and at the same time requires 

 a less space of stand to rest upon ; and, when the building of them is well performed, 

 they have equal solidity, and stand in as firm a manner. 



3280. The stem should contain about two thirds, and the root' one third, of the whole stack. If it he 

 built on a frame, the stem should contain less and the roof more ; if on a bottom, the reverse. The corners 

 of the stein should not be built too sharp, but should be carried up rather roundish ; by which the sides 

 will look fuller, and the swell given by the pressure will be more perceptible. 



3281. The ends of the roof should have a gentle projection, answerable to the stem ; and the sides should 

 be carried up rather convex, than Hat or concave. Perhaps a roof gently convex shoots off the rains 

 better than any other. 



3282. Where com is stacked that has not been sheaved, and in building hay-stacks, it is 

 the usual practice to have a number of persons upon the stack, the corn or hay being 

 forked up and deposited on the different sides all round in a similar method ; after this, 

 other parcels are laid all round on the inside of these, so as to bind them in a secure 

 manner from slipping outwards ; the operator proceeding in the same manner till the 

 whole of the middle space is perfectly filled up : when he begins another course in the 

 same method, and goes on in this mode, with course after course, till he has raised the 

 whole of the stem ; when he begins to take in for the roof, in a very gradual manner, in 

 every succeeding course, until the whole is brought to a ridge or point according to (lie 

 manner in which the stack is formed. But for the purpose that the roofs may throw off 

 the water in a more perfect and effectual manner, they should be made so as to have a 

 slight degree of fulness or swell about the middle of them, and not be made flat, as is 

 too frequently the practice with indifferent builders of stacks. 



3283. In stacking where the com is bound into sheaves, there is seldom more than one 

 person employed in managing the work of building the stack, except in cases where the 

 dimensions are very considerable ; in wliich cases it is found necessary to have a boy to 

 receive the sheaves from the pitcher, and hand them to the man who builds the stack. 

 In executing the work, it is of the utmost importance that the centre of the stack be con- 

 stantly kept in a somewhat raised state above the sides, as the sheaves have thus a 

 sloping direction outwards, by which the entrance of moisture is more effectually guarded 

 against and prevented. To accomplish this in the most perfect manner, the workman 

 begins in the middle of the stand or staddle, setting the sheaves together so that they 

 may incline a little against each other, placing the rest in successive rows against them 

 till he comes to the outside, when he carries a course of sheaves quite round, in a more 

 .loping manner than in the preceding courses. The bottom of the stack, being formed 



n tliis way, it is afterwards usual to begin at the outside, and advance with different 

 ;ourses round the whole, placing each course a little within the other, so as to bind 



hem in an exact and careful manner, till the stacker comes to the middle. All the 



different courses are to be laid on in a similar manner until the whole of the stem is 

 raised and completed ; when the last outside row of sheaves is, in most cases, placed a very 

 little more out than the others, in order to form a sort of projection for the eaves, that 

 the water may be thrown off' more effectually. But in cases where the stems of the 

 stacks are formed so as to project outwards in the manner already noticed, this may be 

 omitted without any bad consequences, as the water will be thrown oft' easily without 

 touching the waste of the stack. The roof is to be formed by placing the sheaves gra- 

 dually a little more in and in, in every course, until it comes to a ridge or point, according 

 to the form of the stack, as has been already observed. But in forming and constructing 

 this part of the stack, great care should constantly be taken to give the ear-ends of the 

 sheaves a sufficiently sloping direction upwards, in order that they may be the better 

 secured from wetness ; and to the outside should be given a rounded form, in the manner 

 that has been already noticed. 



3284. A funnel or chimney is frequently formed or left in circular stacks, especially 

 in wet districts, in order to prevent their taking on too much heat : where these funnels 

 are not formed with the basement of timber, iron, or masonry, as already shown (2908.), 

 they are produced by tying a sheaf up in a very tight manner, and placing it in the 

 middle on the foundation of the stack, pulling it up occasionally as the building of the 

 stack proceeds all round it. In setting up ricks in bad harvests, it is a practice in some 

 places, particularly with barley crops, to have three or four pretty large poles tied together, 

 by winding straw ropes round them, set up in the middle, round which the stacks ai e then 



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